Thelma Young

Thelma Young is a human rights activist and writer who has worked extensively with Burma's democracy movement as well as civil society throughout Southeast Asia. She is the assistant editor of the recent book Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma's Military Regime. She is a Media Studies graduate student at The New School.

When Secretary Clinton left Burma on December 2nd, she left the ball in President Thein Sein’s court. The trip was a gift in and of itself, and Clinton made it clear that if Burma wants to continue to improve ties with the United States it has to take clear measures of reform such as the release of all political prisoners, an end to hostilities in ethnic areas, and lasting democratic reform.More

Burma is now seeing it’s own version of the Occupy movement. On Tuesday, a group of monks staged an occupation of the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in Mandalay, which is one of the most revered Buddhist sites in Burma.More

Humor has always been a major tactic used to illustrate truth in Burma. It comes as no surprise then that after his release, political prisoner and well-known comedian Zarganar has unleashed an onslaught of jokes aimed at Burma’s “new” government.More

Broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West just wrapped up their 18-city “Poverty Tour”. The aim of the trip that traversed through Wisconsin, Detroit, Washington DC, and the Deep South was to “highlight the plight of the poor people of all races, colors, and creeds so they will not be forgotten, ignored, or rendered invisible.” Although the trip has been met with a fair amount of criticism, the issue of poverty’s invisibility in American media and politics is unmistakable.More

The usually quiet country of Malaysia is headed toward a showdown tomorrow between democratic reformers and police. For weeks the coalition of NGOs known as Bersih has called for peaceful marches to happen on July 9th.More

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